Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristics Inside a Venturi Tube Under Gas-Containing Conditions
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Experiments
2.1. Experimental Setup
2.2. Experimental Conditions
2.3. Experimental Validation
3. Experimental Results and Discussions
3.1. Variation of Ql Under Gas Containing Conditions
3.2. Variation in Flow Structure Under Gas-Containing Conditions
3.2.1. Evolution of the Two-Phase Flow
3.2.2. Variation in Two-Phase Flow Under Different Liquid Flow Rates
3.2.3. Variation in Two-Phase Flow Under Different Gas Flow Rates
3.3. Variation in Pressure Characteristics Under Gas Containing Conditions
4. Conclusions
- 1.
- High-speed photography was used to record the development of an air–water two-phase flow inside a horizontal venturi tube. The variation in inlet gas volume fraction (IGVF) was from 0 to 16% due to the regulation of the upstream gas flow rate. When the gas flow entered the converging section of the venturi tube, the gas-phase region was in the form of a columnar bubble. When the bubble was moving into the throat section, there was an expansion on the bubble head. After the bubble entered the diverging section, the head of the bubble underwent further expansion and fragmentation, while smaller bubbles were generated.
- 2.
- Under conditions with different gas contents, the evolution of the two-phase flow was similar, but the main difference was the rate of evolution. Two parameters, defined as characteristic length (Lg) and projected area (Ag), were used to quantitatively describe the bubble development process. With the increase in the IGVF, Lg of the gas-phase region increased but the growth rate was slowing down, which is due to the effects from downstream smaller bubbles. Based on the processing of experimental images, the projected area of the main bubble increased linearly with the increase in IGVF.
- 3.
- By measuring the flow rate in the experiment system under different conditions, it could be seen that the liquid flow rate decreased with increasing gas content. When the value of IGVF exceeded 10%, the liquid flow rate decreased faster due to the blockage caused by high gas content. Time-averaged pressures upstream and downstream of the venturi tube were recorded, revealing that an IGVF of approximately 10% was also a critical point for significant changes in pressure characteristics. With the increase in gas content, the pressure drop indicated an increase in losses.
- 4.
- This study has some limitations. As the flow of the experimental system was powered by a centrifugal pump, the instantaneous pressure would be affected by the operation of the pump. Further research could explore the pressure pulsation characteristics of the gas–liquid two-phase flow.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Device | Measurement Range | Uncertainty |
---|---|---|---|
Liquid flow rate | electromagnetic flowmeter | 0–10 m3/h | ±0.5% |
Gas flow rate | gas flowmeter | 0–100 L/min | ±0.5% |
Pressure | pressure sensor | −100–100 kPa | ±0.25% |
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Guo, Q.; Lu, C.; Huang, X.; Jiang, A.; Liu, X. Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristics Inside a Venturi Tube Under Gas-Containing Conditions. Water 2025, 17, 2080. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17142080
Guo Q, Lu C, Huang X, Jiang A, Liu X. Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristics Inside a Venturi Tube Under Gas-Containing Conditions. Water. 2025; 17(14):2080. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17142080
Chicago/Turabian StyleGuo, Qiang, Chaoshan Lu, Xianbei Huang, Aibo Jiang, and Xiaodong Liu. 2025. "Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristics Inside a Venturi Tube Under Gas-Containing Conditions" Water 17, no. 14: 2080. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17142080
APA StyleGuo, Q., Lu, C., Huang, X., Jiang, A., & Liu, X. (2025). Experimental Investigation of Flow Characteristics Inside a Venturi Tube Under Gas-Containing Conditions. Water, 17(14), 2080. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17142080